Balls, in particular sports balls, such as soccer balls, often comprise a cover having a plurality of panels, which may be stitched to each other, glued together or joined otherwise. Meanwhile panels are mostly manufactured from plastics, but they may also comprise natural leather.
DE 102 55 092 B4 describes a method for manufacturing three-dimensional panels of a ball, wherein said panels comprise an outer material and a support material.
Important factors when manufacturing panels are e.g. the aerodynamic and haptic properties of the ball manufactured from the panels. In particular in the case of soccer balls, it has turned out that a surface of the ball which is too smooth may have a negative influence on the flying properties and, for example, may lead to a “fluttering” of the ball. In addition, the surface of balls should provide sufficient friction to prevent the ball from slipping, e.g. from the foot in the case of a soccer ball, or from the hand etc. in the case of a handball or other balls. For this purpose, different approaches are known from the prior art to accordingly design the surfaces of balls or of individual panels.
DE 10 2009 016 287 B3 describes an inflatable ball, in particular a soccer ball, having an outer cover comprising a plurality of panels, the panels being connected with each other by sutures and each panel comprising at least one pseudo-suture which extends at least along a part of the outer surface of the panel.
Another factor to be considered when manufacturing panels for balls is the optical design of the panels or the balls. For optically designing balls, the surface of panels or also of a fully assembled ball may, for example, be printed or sprayed on. In this regard, however, the optical designs are quickly deteriorated by abrasion under the influence of kicks, impacts, hitting the ground etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,701 discloses panels for a ball with a transparent cover layer onto which further layers are laminated. U.S. Pat. No. 8,602,927 B2 discloses cover panels for a ball which are heat bonded to a reinforcement material. Further balls with panels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,853 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,400 B1. U.S. Pat. No. 8,454,348 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,764,581 B2 disclose different methods for manufacturing balls without panels.
A disadvantage of the known panels is that for providing desired optical, haptic and aerodynamic properties, a plurality of separately manufactured elements are necessary. After having been manufactured, these separately manufactured elements are joined, e.g. laminated or bonded. As a result, manufacturing a panel requires a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses and different manufacturing steps, which makes production complex and expensive. Moreover, the separate elements often have to be manually inserted into corresponding apparatuses or removed from them, so that the manufacture is also labor-intensive. By the plurality of separately manufactured and joined elements, also the constructive design of the panels becomes more complicated, which may negatively influence the endurance and durability of the ball.
Based on this prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simplified method for manufacturing panels, which nevertheless allows to advantageously influence the optical, haptic and/or aerodynamic properties of the panels and at the same time provide high durability of the panels and the balls manufactured therefrom vis-à-vis external influences.